The Mark of the Dragon
by Tenzin
Summary: A Young Girl meets a Dragon and finds how she can become a new cycle of the Dragon Reborn.


And the Dragon Flies

For as long as she could remember, Elisa had known the story of the dragons.

They lived in the forest of Arithea and only the boys in the village who had become men were allowed to visit, and if, if! one of the dragons accepted the boy, then he would be allowed to climb upon it's back and fly.

'Can you imagine flying?' she thought to herself.

But then the thought was pushed aside as she reminded herself that she was a GIRL!

Of all the unfair things to happen to her, why was she born as a girl when she would be denied so many wonderful experiences. It made her angry and many, many times, she would come home from the village school with a bruised face and scratches all up and down her arms cos she had been fighting with one or more of the stupid boys who insisted girls weren't allowed cos they weren't good enough! Good enough? Well, she'd show them-one way or another she would find a way of showing that a girl was just as good as a boy any day of the week.

It made her so angry.

It was ok for the girls to stay at home and have babies and clean a house and the only way out was to become a spear maiden. For a long time, Elisa had wanted to be a spear maiden.  
These women had been brought up to know how to fight and were the protectors of the village.

Once they reached the age of 12,they were allowed to begin training in the different kinds of fighting and to learn weapons, usually bows and arrows, swords and of course, spears. But these weren't any old spears, oh no, these spears were metal, instead of wood and were hung at the waist on a wide leather belt. They were shorter than the ones the men used but because of this, could be doubled as an extra sword.

Elisa really looked up to these women cos they were respected by all the villagers. The men as well as the women and Elisa had decided that as soon as she was old enough that she would join the spear maidens and be respected too.  
No more being bullied by the boys at school and no more being told what to do by her parents. 'Do this, Elisa! Do that, Elisa!' she was sick of it.

When Elisa was born, she wasn't like other kids cos she had a huge birthmark on her face. It was called a port wine stain cos that was what it looked like…like someone had accidentally spilled wine down the side of her face and head.  
The mark didn't hurt or anything, but it just made her feel like the odd one out all the time. This was the main reason why she had so many fights at school. The kids would tease her and call her names and if the didn't stop, she's just blow up with temper and go for them. So, she kept her own company and learned to be happy by herself.

No one understood how it made her feel to always be the odd one out. The reason for all the giggling in class when miss was writing on the board.

One day she's show them! She would be a warrior, a spear maiden and one day, yes, she would fly her own dragon!

Chapter 2

Today was Saturday and that meant NO SCHOOL!Yeah!A whole day to herself,well, after she had done her chores,that was.

After she was born,her mum and dad decided to have no more children in case they had the mark too so Elisa grew up by herself.That was ok cos she didn't really care,but it did mean that she had to do all the chores by herself.No brothers or sisters meant no one to share them with.That was rubbish but she knew once she'd finished,she had the day to herself.

She got up quickly and got dressed then sneaked down as quietly as she could to go and wash under the cold water pump in the yard.

'It's a good thing it's not winter or I'd be getting icicles on my head!' Elisa thought to herself with a quiet giggle.

Creeping downstairs as quietly as a mouse,she nearly had a heart attack as her dad suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs!

'I do hope you weren't thinking of sneaking out before your breakfast, were you?' he asked.

'No papa,I didn't want to wake you or mama,that's all'

Elisa loved her dad. He was very strong and had flown a dragon when he was a younger man. He would sit her on his knee when she was little and tell her stories of what it was like to soar above the clouds and to look down on the village as her flew over.

Her mum would tell him to stop telling her these tales as it filled her head with silly ideas. No wonder she grew up with such a desire to fly a dragon!

When Elisa was 10,her dad had had an accident and fell off his dragon while battling against another village.

Elisa's village, called Shyenne Mountain, had a fresh water spring and the other village's spring had started to dry up so they said they wanted to put a pipe in to take water from the her village's spring but they said no and so a long, nasty war had started. Why couldn't they share anyway?

Many people had died protecting their spring but she was very glad her dad didn't die, though he had to stay in bed for a very long time before he could get up again.

Now, his right leg had a bit of a bend in it and he still found it very sore, especially when it was cold or raining.

'Poor, papa.' she thought to herself.

She couldn't sit on his knee anymore cos it hurt him but she would sit on the arm of his chair and that way she could put her arm around his neck. He still told her stories though and mama still told him off.

'She's my only child, Kara!' he would say, laughing, 'who else can I tell my stories to?'

And so he continued their stories and Elisa loved them.

OK, sweetie' papa said with a smile, 'here's what I need you to do for me today' and he gave her a piece of paper with some chores printed on it.

1) empty the animal troughs and fill with fresh water

2) empty out the old straw in the animal pens and put in some fresh

3) milk Daisy and Nelly

4) go out and play!

Elisa laughed.

This was great, only 3 chores! When mama made the list, there was always lots to do. Often it would be lunch-time before she would finish and that meant half the day was already gone!

She looked up to see her father watching her with a smile on his face.

She ran over to her dad and flung her arms around his waist. 'Thanks, papa, this is great!'

'OK, sweetie let's get them started before your mum gets up, ok. She wasn't feeling too good this morning so I've sent her back to bed for a lie in'

Not needing to be told twice, Elisa ran out into the yard to have her wash and get started. Her mum always said 'Soonest started, soonest finished' and she was right!

Chapter 3

Before too long, the chores were done and Elisa was feeling all hot and smelly.

'I know', she thought to herself, 'I'll go for a swim!'

Elisa loved to swim in the little lake in the hills behind the village so as soon as she'd ducked into the house to make herself a packed lunch, she was off and making her way up the hills toward the lake.

It was a really lovely day and she just knew she was going to have fun today.

From the upstairs window of her mum and dads bedroom, papa watched as she ran up the path at the back of the house, towards the hills. He smiled but felt sad that he could never go swimming again, His leg was weak now and ached badly if he did too much.

He looked over at his wife asleep on the bed. She hadn't felt very well for the past few weeks and tho she hadn't said anything for sure, he suspected she was having a baby.

They had talked about having more kids but were afraid that he or she might have the mark like Elisa.

Where they lived, the people were still very superstitious and thought people with birthmarks were marked for sadness.

Of course, it was rubbish but people will believe the silliest things!

Now it looked like his wife was pregnant and there was nothing they could do about it.

Secretly, he was very happy as he had always wanted lots of children to fill the house with love and laughter. Even tho kids had their fights and disagreements, it would have been nice.

Anyway, the gods sent babies as they saw fit, not as humans wanted.

Chapter 4

Elise climbed and climbed and was getting even more hot and sweaty! She couldn't wait till she got to the lake and got out of her stinky clothes. She had thought on to grab some clean stuff and jam them into her bag with her packed lunch.  
Once she got out of the lake, she could get dressed into some nice, clean smelling pants and a shirt. Then she would lie on the grass and look at the lake while she ate her packed lunch.

As she'd packed it herself, she had all of her favourite stuff-some nice crusty bread, some cheese and some nice little tomatoes with a twist of salt and pepper to sprinkle on top. She's also brought 2 apples and remembered to toss in her wooden cup. There was plenty of clean water up here to drink, after all.

After what seemed forever,Elisa arrived at her special place.It was a little flat piece of grass which over looked the lake.It was about as big as her bedroom and surrounded by beautiful wild flowers and little trees.She thought they were called willows but she wasn't sure.The branches grew down and when she walked underneath them,it was like being in a secret place.She could see through the branches but no one could see in.  
She knew this was true cos last year she had been playing up there when she heard some of the kids from school coming up the hill.Quickly she had gathered her things and hidden behind the veil of green branches. She was there for what seemed like hours while the other kids played chase,not knowing all the time that she was only a few yards from them.It made her laugh to herself that they never even knew.They all thought they were so clever and they weren't.At least she never got picked on that day!She hoped no one came up to her spot this time.

Looking around,Elisa noticed that there was a lot of broken up vegetables laying around the grass.

'Those stupid kids!'she thought to herself.

Quickly she picked up all the veg and lobbed it to one side,then she got undressed and ran down to the water.Just before she jumped in,she took a few seconds to look around and admire how lovely the lake was.

The water was a deep blue,the sky was a lighter blue and all round, it was surrounded by the green of the grass and trees.It really was the most beautiful place.

Taking a deep breath,she ran for the water and dove in.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!It was freezing!But great!She swam around for a while and felt herself relaxing.She floated on her back,looking at the blue sky and imagining that the clouds were different animals.'There's a dog' she thought.'And there's a snake!'

This was great,she wished that she could just stay here and live in this wonderful place.

As she floated along,she thought she felt something touch her foot.

'I must be by some sea weed'she thought,but then a few minutes later,something began nibbling at her toes!

She had such a shock that she tried to stand on the bottom of the lake with shock!She had a bigger shock when she realised she had floated out a long way from the shore and she couldn't touch the bottom!

She started to panic,splashing and gurgling as the water went up her nose.

In her head,she could hear her dad saying to always stay calm and think yourself out of a problem so she took a deep breath and floated onto her tummy.

Once she did that,she felt much better and began to swim towards shore.

Suddenly,she heard a great slapping noise!What was that?She half wondered if someone else was drowning in the lake and looked back to check.She trod water for a minute but she couldn't see anyone about.

Then,she heard it again,but realised it was coming from above her and looked up to see…………

A huge blue dragon hovering over the water. The power of it's wings were making the water splash all over the place.

Elisa couldn't believe what she was seeing.

A real dragon,just like her dad used to ride!

Elisa was half frightened and half really excited to see this huge animal with her own eyes!

She wanted to just watch it forever so turned towards the shore of the lake.She would go back to her secret place and just watch it to see what it did and whether it had anyone with it.

She knew if a warrior was here with his dragon,he would shout at her and send her away.A lot of the grown ups thought her mark meant bad luck and they chased her when she went near their animals so the same thing would probably happen with a dragon.

She swam quickly towards shore but within seconds,the dragon had flown over her head and landed in her secret place on top of the hill!What should she do.  
Maybe it wanted to eat her!Maybe the secret place was HIS secret place too and he was angry.

Then she remembered the left over veg and felt sick in her stomach that the food must have been the dragons dinner!Oh,nooooooooooooooooooooooo!

At last she got back to the beach and started climbing up to her place,all the time wondering what to do.

Lots of questions were going through her mind.Was this a speaking dragon?Did it like human flesh?Should she just run?She wished her dad were here.

Chapter 5

But her dad wasn't there and she had to deal with this all by herself.

If she really wanted to accept the she would be a good spear maiden when she grew up,then she better find some courage and stop being a scaredy cat.

Slowly,she began to climb up the path that led to the secret place.

She could hear a strange huffing noise coming from up ahead and felt a horrible prickly sensation all up her back in into her hair.She knew this must be fear! All her life,her dad had protected against things to be afraid of.Well until his accident and it's only been since then that she'd had problems in school with the other kids.

Even though they skitted her and called her names cos of the mark,she hadn't really been afraid like this cos she knew she could always fight anyone who got too mean-but a dragon!How did you fight one of them?If it wanted to cook her,with his fiery breath and eat her,she couldn't fight that,now could she?

Finally,Elisa reached the top and pulled herself up the last few feet by pulling on a little tree.

There sat the dragon,as big as her house and next door,put together!

She took a deep breath and walked towards it slowly.She expected that at any moment,she would feel the fire and disappear in a plume of smoke!Her poor dad wouldn't know what had happened to her and might thing she'd run away or something silly like that.

'He-hello,sir' she stuttered to the dragon,'I'm very sorry if I have messed up your special place.'

Now that she's started,it was like she couldn't stop and just went on and on!

'I didn't know this was anyone else's special place you see,I come up here whenever I can cos it's so beautiful and peaceful and most of the time,there's no other kids to pick on me and my dad lets me come but my mum doesn't know cos she's say no but dad understands and it's kind of like our secret but I didn't know that any dragons came here so I'm sorry and I'll go now,if that's all right but please don't cook me cos I'm sure I'd taste horrible and…….'

She stopped for a second to take a big breath but realised she had her eyes shut!She opened them slowly and jumped back about 10 feet when she saw that the dragon was only a few inches from her nose!

'Oh!' she cried.

'No,don't be scared.' said the dragon softly.'It's a long time since I spoke to a human and one so small too.'

'I'm not small,I'm 12 and I will be a spear maiden soon!'

Immediately,she realised she had shouted at the dragon and cringed as she waited for the fire to come.

'Feisty little thing,aren't you?' the dragon chuckled softly.

'Are you going to eat me?'she stammered out to him.

'Eat you?Eat you? Why would I do that?I'm a vegatarian,you know.'

Elisa felt so much better and relaxed with a big sigh.That was a relief!Imagine if she'd been eaten while she was all by herself.Her mum and dad would never have known where she'd disappeared to.

'I have seen you here before',said the dragon.'I watch you and have often thought of saying hello but I thought you might run away cos I'm so ugly!'

'You're not ugly!'The words came out before she could stop herself.

'I'M ugly,not you,and I come up here by myself so I don't have to be picked on by the other kids.Up here,no one calls me names.'

'Why would you think you are ugly?As humans go,you're quite a nice little girl to look at and you remind me of me!'

'How can I remind you of you?'Elisa asked.'You are a dragon and I'm a human being,after all.'

'Well,said the dragon with a sad voice,I have always been different from the other dragons and I got called names too,when I was a hatchling.'

Elisa was very puzzled at this and looked at him with a question in her eyes.

'But I like humans cos when I grew up a bit,I was given to a human to ride with me.He was very kind and we protected the village down there.'At this,the dragon kind of pointed with his chin towards her village.

Then he had an accident and he never came back.It was all my fault but I do miss him.

Elisa suggested they sit down and have a proper talk in the sunshine.The dragon was all for it and settled himself on the grass,near to where Elisa had found all the vegetables.

He told her that his name was Tobroi and was 6 years old.Elisa thought this was funny cos she was 12.That meant she was the big kid-kind of!

Tell me about yourself'said the dragon gently.'I like stories'

'So do I' said Elisa and started to tell him all about herself.

She told him about her village and her mum and dad.She told him about her bedroom and how she liked to look at the moon when mum and dad thought she was asleep.

'Sometimes,I imagine I can see myself riding a dragon across the sky with the moon shining on me'.

'How wonderful' Tobroi said with a big breath of hot air.Instead of feeling frightened though,she felt safe and warm with her new friend.She wished she could bring her dad up here to see the dragon.He would be so thrilled.

Since he hurt his leg,he had not been anywhere except the village.He couldn't walk far so going anywhere more than a few minutes walk away was out of the question.

'Tobroi' she asked,'why did the other dragons make fun of you?'

'Can't you see?Are YOU making fun of me now?'

Tobroi was getting very unsettled and was starting to 'huff' a bit.The air around them was feeling a little bit warmer than a few minutes ago and she felt a bit afraid.

'No,no,Tobroi,I wouldn't make fun of you!I'm sorry if I've upset you.It was the last thing from my mind,truly!'

'Are you sure?'the dragon asked staring into her eyes.His great big ones to her small human sized ones.

'I promise!' she said

'Alright,I will show you why they make fun of me' and he turned his face so she could see the other side of his head.

Across one eye and over his face to his ear,Tobroi had a big mark.It was just like her birth mark!It seemed to be in exactly the same place!She didn't know what to say but she felt kind of excited cos she wasn't the only one in the whole world with a birth mark!Wow!

'Did you have that mark when you were born,Tobroi?'she asked.

'Well,dragons aren't exactly born,little human,we hatch out of eggs but yes,it was there when I came into the world as a hatchling,why?'

Elisa stood up so she could look into his eyes without having to bend her neck all over the place and pushing her long wet hair out of the way,she said 'This is why I get picked on by the other kids'and showed him her birth mark.

She felt,as well as heard,the big dragon take a deep breath,and then suddenly he was crying!  
Great,big tears rained down on Elisa's head.She was shocked and surprised.She didn't think her mark would upset him so!

'No,no,Tobroi,don't cry.Whatever is the matter?

She automatically reached for him and tried to put her arms around his neck but he was just too big,so she patted him and told him not to be upset.

Gradually,the crying settled down and he was able to talk again.

'Oh,Elisa,I thought I was the only one in the world to have this kind of mark.What does it mean?Are we cursed or something?'Poor Tobroi cried and cried and then Elisa felt herself getting all upset too.

First she felt hot and then she had a terrible sore throat cos she felt like there was a big ball of sadness in it.She tried swallowing but it was still there so in the end,when her eyes filled with tears,she just let them come and the two of them stayed like that for a long time.Just crying and crying.

Eventually,they calmed down and after wiping their faces on Elisa's clothes(cos dragons cry A LOT of tears!),they looked at each other and both burst out laughing!

'This is the best day of my life!' Elisa said to the dragon.

'I have a new friend who is a dragon,for heavens sake,and I also find someone with the mark too!'

'Hey,not just someone,ME!'laughed the dragon.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly as they told each other all about themselves,ate the packed lunch that Elisa had brought,not that that was very much for a dragon,until,Tobroi said,

'Would you like to come for a ride on my back?'

'A ride?I would love to!'shouted Elisa as she jumped up and down with excitement.

'OK,well,you are very small so I think the best way is for you to climb up my tail onto my back then sit behind my head' Tobroi instructed her.

So Elisa ran to his tail and on to his back until she was sitting behind his big head.She felt like a giant,she was so high in the air!

Tobroi told her not to be scared as he wouldn't let her fall and to just enjoy herself, so she held on tight as he lifted into the air, his huge wings flapping slowly.

Elisa couldn't help giving a squeak of fright as they left the ground.

This was just amazing!

Chapter 6

Elisa held her breath as they soared above the lake and flew across the sky.Finally,she had to breathe out and did so with a loud 'whew!'.

'Are you alright,little one?' Tobroi asked.

'I'm fine' she shouted to him.It seemed that as soon as she opened her mouth,her voice blew away in the wind.

'Just hold onto my ridges and you'll be fine' Tobroi called to her.

So,she took his advice and held onto his ridges and looked right and left over the land.

'See down there,it's your village!'her new friend shouted.

And it was too!There was the meeting hall where all the grown ups went to listen to the elders give advice and listened to any problems that the people brought to them.

At the end of the village,she could even see her own house-and there was mama in the garden pegging out some washing.

She wanted to shout mama so she could see her riding on a huge dragon but she felt it would be a mistake.

For one thing,mama would tell her to come down and stop being a fool and she had to admit to herself that she didn't want anyone to know about her new friend cos then it wouldn't be their secret.It was kind of selfish,she knew but Tobroi was HER friend,no one elses-well except for the man who used to be his rider years ago.She wondered how anyone could just not come back for Tobroi,he was such a lovely creature,after all.

Every day foe weeks,Elisa would run up to the secret place as soon as she could and she and Tobroi would fly across the skies and then come back to 'their' place and talk and play.Sometimes they would play hide and go seek.Tobroi often couldn't find Elisa for hours cos she was small and a very good hider but Tobroi was just so big,she could find him right away!

He could never understand how she found him.He thought he was well hidden but he didn't realise that when his head was hidden,his big blue bottom was poking out from behind the trees!Elisa thought he was so funny and did more laughing and giggling that summer than she thought she had done in all her life!

The only sad thing was that she wanted so much to tell her father and bring him up to meet Tobroi,but Tobroi was afraid at the very idea.He thought he would be captured and made to fly some horrible man into war and he just wasn't like that.

So Elisa promised to keep him a secret and the summer wore on,with sunny days spent flying and playing and no one in the whole world knowing except two lonely creatures-one human and one dragon.


End file.
